Thomas Wentworth Higginson

(1823 - 1911)

Descended from the first minister in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Thomas Wentworth Higginson became pastor of a church in Newburyport, where, owing to his progressive and politicized sermons, he “preached himself out of his pulpit.” He advocated for women’s rights and abolition, leading the first black regiment in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Civil War.